2024 is almost done, friends!
Here we are in December - always a bit of a manic time in schools, even if very enjoyable.
I won't lie, November was manic for me! An OFSTED inspection, Maths Week England (in the same week!) trips to Carlisle, Lancaster, Ely, Eastbourne, Bristol, and London.
Here's what's coming up this month:
1. Website of the month: TES Christmas Resources
2. Maths Week Review
3. Further Division Thoughts
4. Maths Outreach Jobs at the R.I.
5. NRICH ADVENT Calendars
6. in Memory of Doug Buchanan
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1. Website of the month: TES Christmas Resources
There are always loads of ideas on the TES, of course, but some of them are rather pricey and I only wanted to recommend free ones.
Then I realised that rather than filter to search only for free resources (which annoyingly is not an option), I could just sort from low to high price - and that's exactly what I did!
So this link will take you to the TES Christmas resources starting with hundreds of free ones - enjoy!
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2. Maths Week Review
It was as mad a week as ever, but we were thrilled to see nearly a million young people registered to take part in what is the world's largest national maths festival.
This is a huge credit to all teachers who went the extra mile to show students the joyous side of maths - thank you all.
If you did do something, however modest, for Maths Week England but didn't register, PLEASE PLEASE do so using this link - you might just be the person who pushes us over the one million mark!
There was even an event in Parliament recognising the importance of maths to our national prosperity, which was really encouraging.
I was very privileged to round off the week with my Rubik's Cube show at the Royal Institution - it always feels such an honour to speak there, and I was thrilled to have two great friends from MWE there to support me, but imagine my surprise when none other than those two giants of mathematics education John Mason and Anne Watson also turned up - not as mathematicians but in their role as grandparents! I can't wait for MWE 2025! |
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3. Further Division Thoughts
Back in September I wrote about the importance of students making a connection between division and multiplication, and shared a resource I had created for that purpose.
It seemed to be pretty effective, but only worked with sigle-digit factors, so I set about trying to develop the idea further. The result is the document you see below. It is a similar, but more advanced, resource. This is just the first page, but once you have a template it is very simple to create further pages with any level of complexity you desire.
It's not available as a resource on my website just yet (there've been just a few things going on, and I would like to make another ten pages or so), but I hope to have it available before next term.
In the meantime, feel free to screenshot this and/or create your own.
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4. Fancy a Job in Maths Outreach?
The amazing team at the Royal Institution are currently offering a number of job opportunities that some of you might be interested in.
There's a mixture of short and longer-term vacancies in and around the masterclass programme -check out the details here, but you will have to be fast - at least one of these posts closes on Tuesday 3rd. |
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5. NRICH ADVENT Calendars
One of my favourite newsletter traditions is the inclusion every December of the yearly advent calendars from my friends at NRICH.
Behind every door is a fun piece of maths for students to try. There are two different calendars, one for primary and one for secondary.
Enjoy! |
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6. Puzzle of the Month - sort of.
This month's 'puzzle of the month is dedicated to Douglas Buchanan. Doug was a personal friend for many years, who tragically passed away this year after a short illness.
We became good friends eons ago while we were both heads of maths, and later deputy heads in prep schools. We discovered that we shared a love of maths, teaching, puzzles, and most importantly enjoying each other's company over a good meal.
At many of these meals, I would regale Doug with tales of Maths Week Ireland, and he asked me to introduce him to the organizers. I did so willingly- and they loved him! Every October since then, Doug would travel to Ireland and run his shows and challenges, and students always enjoyed them.
So in 2019, when Maths Week England was founded (based on the Ireland model) Doug immediately threw himself into it and willingly produced some wonderful puzzles and workshops.
So this year the Maths Week England committee, on which I am lucky enough to serve, to run a competition in Doug's honour.
The competition was to create an original puzzle, and there was some lovely entries that I know Doug would have loved.
It was incredibly hard to pick a winner. There were some fantastic entries. Lots of the puzzles were variations of classic ideas - it is very difficult to create an entirely new puzzle - so I had to choose one I thought that Doug would have liked.
I think he would have approved of my choice. I went for this puzzle partly because it reminded me of the sort of puzzle Doug used to create, but also because I liked the level of difficulty and the 'what if?' approach that it encouraged.
Congratulations to the winner, Amelie Coates, from Year 7 at Market Bosworth Academy, who wins a £100 book token for her efforts.
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That's it for December's newsletter folks :-)
Whether or not you celebrate the birth of Christ this season, as I do, or simply enjoy time with family and friends instead, I wish you all the very best.
I must end 2024 by once again reminding you that I really do appreciate every single one of you for being a part of this community.
I have been sending out these newsletters for about 20 years now - and it always gives me such pleasure to meet someone who says 'Oh I get your newsletter!'.
So whether you are a new subscriber or an old faithful: THANK YOU- and HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!!
Andrew x |
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You're receiving this newsletter as a friend, customer or partner of Magic Message Maths.
Sent with love from Andrew and the Magic Message team. |
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